Social media is a major factor in UK riots

A violent rampage sparked by a knife attack at a children’s dance workshop in Southport, England, on July 29 has recently spread to many parts of the United Kingdom. Two children were killed and nine were injured, six seriously, in the vicious knife attack. Two adults are also in critical condition after being stabbed while trying to protect the children, Merseyside police said.

Following the incident, local police did not release the killer’s name in accordance with the law because he was under 18. Subsequently, several rumors began circulating online suggesting that the killer was a refugee who arrived in the UK last year to seek asylum.

The British court soon stripped the killer of the protection of anonymity, and the police announced his real name, emphasizing that his place of birth was Cardiff. Despite the clarification from the British authorities, rumors continued to circulate on the Internet.

Local public opinion believes that the ongoing ferment of the riots is due to far-right forces using social media to spread rumors and fan the flames of unrest. The riots also reflect some deep-seated issues, such as divisions in British society, the immigration crisis and the difficulty of overseeing transnational social media platforms.

False information was spread rampantly on social media by far-right forces to provoke anger and fuel the unrest, and related algorithms contributed to the “viral spread” of false information. Data shows that 86% of respondents believe social media is a major driving force behind the unrest.

After the stabbing, rumors about the identity of the perpetrator were forwarded by millions of people on major social media platforms in the form of photos, texts, videos, etc. Some accounts also used exaggerations and mixed-cut videos to gain traffic and create chaos. Some well-known internet figures became promoters of the riots.

According to British police, many of the protests that have turned violent have been organized by far-right groups online. They have used rhetoric such as “Save Our Children” to repeatedly exaggerate immigration issues and incite public sentiment. As such, social media platforms have amplified far-right voices and stirred public sentiment, exacerbating the severity of the incident.

However, illegal immigration is indeed a problem for the UK. Some Britons blame immigrants for social problems such as insufficient medical resources and the declining quality of public services.

And the crisis of trust in the government and the difficulty of overseeing transnational social media platforms have contributed to the severity of the unrest. Many people believe that it is difficult for the British government to put national needs above partisan interests because politicians do not genuinely care about the demands of the people.

Meanwhile, some social media platforms owned by foreign companies have neglected to review and manage the accounts of far-right activists, resulting in the infectious spread of misinformation and hate speech.

XINHUA NEWS AGENCY